Life’s Grape + Giveaway

About a week ago, I asked Kolette if she would add some green grapes to the grocery list.  She usually just picks up red grapes and I was jonesin’ for some green ones.  She must have gone to the store in the last few days, because yesterday morning, lo and behold, I found my green grapes waiting in the bowl on the counter while Ko was away working her keister off at Jim’s Gym (for more on her escapades there, check out her blog here–or for one of my favorite Jim’s Gym posts click here).

Anyway, as I worked my way through the grapes, it wasn’t long until I noticed that these were not your ordinary, average, everyday, grapes.  It quickly became evident that these were some sort of “Super Grapes,” or that possibly someone had slipped some steroids into this batch of Vitis Vinifera (I guess you could say they might have been juicing).

And then, it was there—the largest grape Ko or I had ever seen.  The other ones were big, but this one was second to none.  It barely seemed like a grape at all.  We took it around and compared it to other items around the house, and laughed and joked about what we saw.  We even took pictures so you can see for yourself.

The grape next to Cole's Bead/Block

It was only a few minutes, and it was just some silly grapes, but it brought some joy to our day.  But, that’s how it goes.  Often, it’s the little, crazy things that bring us the happiness we need to make it through the day.  That said, it falls upon us to find those ridiculous things that can lighten your day, and take some of the pressure off.

So, wanting to hear other little quirky things you find to bring joy into your lives, I’m going to giveaway.  It’s an autographed DVD.  In order to qualify, you need to leave some silly, little thing you’ve used to bring some joy to your life—maybe even take it upon yourself to find something to get you giggling in the next few days.

Either way, leave your comment and you’ll be entered in the giveaway.

And, in honor of the grape, Kolette’s agreed to make the giveaway a little more “juicy” by adding some of her great scrapbooking swag for you or your spouse.

Now comes your chance.  Let ‘em fly.  The more ideas that get posted the more resources we’ll all have to live lives with a little more gladness, the more ways we’ll find to make life just grape.

Jh-

To qualify, comments must be posted by 10:00pm PST Sunday, November 8

The grape next to a penny

The First of Many…

I know that through the experiences I will have with Cole I will learn some of the great lessons of my life. I know that he’ll give me an insight and perspective into life I’ve never had before. I know that we’ll learn things together that I never would have experienced alone.

The first of these lessons happened just a few days after he was home from the hospital. First off, one has to understand that Cole has been extremely good baby. When we were pregnant everyone warned us of the sleepless nights, and although he definitely doesn’t sleep through the night, the nights have never been sleepless. Coleman has been an excellent sleeper right from the get go. Especially at the beginning when he was a little jaundiced.

However, all of a sudden his excellent sleeping habits stopped. The baby that had barely fussed at all, seemed cranky more and more. We did everything we could think to do without any positive result. We tried to change his feeding schedule, comforted him, held him, rocked him all hoping to find a way to pacify him.

Then, about 36 hours later, we found the answer in his diaper.

The Scene of the Crime

Kolette and her mom were watching Cole when all of a sudden there was a rumble in Coleman’s pants the likes of which had never been heard before. The sound was familiar, it was the amplitude that caught us off guard. They took him in his room and laid him on the changing table.

When you bring a newborn from the hospital, they tell you that it’s not irregular for them to be a little irregular. In fact, they tell you to expect it. They told us he could go up to 2-3 days without having a bowel movement. So when he didn’t, we didn’t think anything of it.

But, he must’ve been constipated because when they opened the diaper they found things that should never be written about–and it was everywhere.

Just as the diaper was off, true to his masculine roots Cole created a beautiful, magnificent, yellow rainbow. His urine washed over the wall adjacent to his changing table. They looked like Army Rangers working to get to a target area without getting “shot” in the process.

Not only that, but we had had Cole circumcised. This meant that in addition to getting his bottom clean they also had to make sure the stool was cleaned out of his circumcision ring (a new no maintenance procedure that comes off all by itself and gets rid of all the Vaselining). The ring was barely hanging on making it so that the only way to get this accomplished was to hose him down with a little water. So, battling a full diaper, two liquid streams and legs kicking wildly, they laughed and shrieked as they worked to get things all cleaned up. They definitely had their four hands full.

With that mission accomplished, all the sudden our cheerful, calm, docile little boy was back. He’d just been a little unpleasant about being a lot plugged up.

Watching my boy smile and play without a care in the world reminded me of an important lesson. Too often as we work our way through each day we find ourselves in the situation just like Cole’s. We keep things in far too long. After a while, they start to ache and cause us grief. I know that many times in my life I feel like I’ll be better off if I just keep them in.

Cole showed me how it feels to keep things all bottled up, and reminded me how good it can feel to let it all go. I know this lesson is just the first of many.

Jh-